Sancho

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The loyal, earthy squire who accompanies the deluded knight in Cervantes' novel ; a masculine first name of Spanish origin
2. The down-to-earth servant and companion of the knight errant in the classic Spanish novel ; a traditional male given name used in Spain and Latin America
3. The practical squire who rides alongside the idealistic knight in Cervantes' famous satire ; a male first name with roots in the Spanish language

Etymology: "Sancho" in English usually means a loyal, earthy sidekick, and the name behind it belongs to Sancho Panza, the squire in Miguel de Cervantes's "Don Quixote." Cervantes's squire is a short, practical peasant who follows his deluded master into absurd adventures, mostly for the promise of a governorship, and the contrast between the two men gave English a ready label for the down-to-earth companion of a dreamer. The name itself is an ordinary Spanish personal name, a form of "Sancius," the Latin version of a Basque-derived name. English borrowed it from Spanish, so the word carries the flavour of the Iberian source rather than any English tradition. Its use as a common noun rests entirely on the literary character, not on any older sense of the name.